remain at a standstill, and time is running out. the message president obama will send to the country this morning. >> harry potter hiysteria is taking over. we catch up with fans just out of the theater as the final film in the series plays around the clock. thanks for waking up with us this morning on "news 4 today." i'm aaron gilchrist in for eun yang. >> sun just up this morning. it is a gorgeous sky for a gorgeous day. 69 degrees right now. let's go right to tom kierein to find out about the forecast for today and the weekend. you step out, and the air is filled with bird song. we've got a wonderful morning once again under way. another view of the sunrise. live picture from the high definition skywatcher camera. and northeast washington in the foreground. off in the distance, prince george's county. the sun up on a partly cloudy sky. temperatures around the region, it's cool in the central shenandoah valley and the mountains of western maryland and west virginia, only the 50s there. from the blue ridge east, most locations in the low to mid-60s. upper 60s in washington and right by the bay.

later today, we'll have temperatures climbing to around mid-70s by 9:00. should be near 80 by noontime. then mid-80s by midafternoon. probably more clouds around today than we had yesterday. a beautiful summer day coming up with low humidity in place. then it's going to continue. looks like part of the weekend. we'll take a look at the night planner for this friday night. that will be in about ten minutes at 6:11. let's check traffic. danella, how's it looking? >> right now i have report of an accident. this is as you're traveling on the inner loop approaching the dulles toll road. this accident blocks your left lane. you can see the yellow. that means we're slowing as we get to the accident and continuing on. congestion is building. i want to give you a look at the occoquan. this is 95 north. i can tell you i have seen some volume in this area. it looks to be stop and go because it's clearing up a little bit right now. as you make your way towards lorton, the road looks even better. on new york avenue in d.c., i am

seeing that you are slow from the times plant as you approach bladensburg road. and on the rails, big delay. this is on the marc. brunswick east, train number 890, your delay is 21 minutes. i'll be back in ten minutes with another update. back to you, joe and aaron. >> danella, thank you. new from overnight, holy cross hospital is fully operational now after a fire caused evacuations there. montgomery county fire investigators tell us that a heating and air conditioning unit outside the building caught fire around 11:15 last night. smoke got inside the third floor, which includes the maternity ward. hospital staff moved some patients to another part of the building while fire crews put out the flames. fire crews say no patients were in any danger. the august 2nd deadline is many looin looming, and there is still no debt limit compromise. president obama will hold another press conference to update the nation on his efforts

to increase the limit. melissa mollet with more on what the president is expected to say. >> that news conference is scheduled at 11:00 this morning. this comes amid new hope a deal can be reached. president obama giving lawmakers until saturday to figure out a plan of action. today will be a rare day off from face to face negotiations as they work to move ahead. the president is asking lawmakers to take three deficit reduction options to their members and see which, if any, can win a vote in the house and senate. house republicans say they won't raise the debt limit without equal spending cuts. obama and his fellow democrats insist that higher revenues must be included. thursday news 4's jim vance sat down with president obama for an exclusive interview. >> what's required here in washington is that politicians understand now's not the time to play games, now's not the time to posture, now is the time to do what's right by the country. >> and senate republican mitch mcconnell and democrat harry reid are trying to come together, working on a backup

plan they say would give the president authority to raise the debt ceiling but put off a debate until 2013. credit agency standard & poor's is warning it may downgrade the u.s. rating if nothing is done. this as the federal reserve chairman says he fears financial system chaos. aaron? >> melissa mollet live for us in the newsroom. thank you, melissa. stay with news 4 for continuing conk of the debt divide. you can tune in for the president's live comments this morning at "news 4 midday" at 11:00 a.m. new this morning on decision 2012, a new gallup poll shows president obama trailing in the race to keep his job. 47% of registered voters surveyed favor the republican party's presidential candidate, whoever that might be. president obama has 39% of the support. this is the second consecutive month republicans have led in this poll. the survey was conducted between july 7th and july 10th. now police are trying to figure out who vandalized a middle school in rockville in

montgomery county. police say there were sexual images and hate language on the walls, doors, windows, and furniture at herbert hoover middle school. the vandals attacked somewhere between 3:00 and 9:00 in the morning on wednesday. the maryland mother who was carjacked with her baby in the car is explaining why she grabbed her child and jumped out of the car on the beltway. >> i asked him to pull over thousands of times. >> and what did he say? >> he didn't. he just kept on driving. i said, just let me get the baby out. you can have the car. just let me get the baby out. i really didn't want to jump, but i didn't know what else to do. i acted like i was putting my seat belt on with this hand and pushed the door open while he was looking in the rearview mirror and used this leg first and jumped out. >> was your baby in your arms? >> like that. >> police say the carjacking happened at a gas station in baltimore and ended on the beltway in rockville when the woman jumped out. amazingly, neither the mom nor her baby was hurt in this incident. that suspect, you see him here,

22-year-old tyronn alvin white of baltimore, is facing several serious charges. former baseball pitcher roger clemens will find out in september whether he'll go on trial again to face perjury charges or whether the case will be dismissed against him all together. clemens' trial was called in the figurative first inning when the judge in the case declared a mistrial. prosecutors inadvertently showed jurors a video that had been ruled off limits by the judge. that was a mistake the judge said even first year law students could avoid. clemens is accused of lying to congress about taking performance-enhancing drugs. we now know when the john edwards criminal trial is expected to start. the former senator and presidential candidate will go on trial in october. his defense wanted to delay the trial until january claiming they needed more time. edwards is accused of accepting illegal campaign funds to cover up an extramarital affair during the 2008 presidential campaign. 6:06 is the time.

breaking news now. nbc news confirms that top executive rebecca brooks has resigned from rupert murdoch's news corporation amid the phone hacking scandal in great britain. the scandal has widened to include charges of tampering and police bribery. murdoch shut down his tabloid "news of the world" in response to the scandal. meanwhile the fbi is looking into allegations that newscorp employees tried to hack into the telephones of 9/11 victims in the united states. seven minutes after the hour now. 68 degrees. casey anthony will be a free casey anthony will be a free woman this weekend.

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good morning. 67 degrees. sun is up. what a beautiful picture. blue skies, streaky clouds above us. blue sky reflected into the waters of the potomac. what a nice way to start the weekend. >> if your plans don't include spending time outside, change of plans, right, tom? >> this is certainly an unusual break from our usual high heat and humidity. here's the sky over arlington in the distance. quite a bit of cloudiness right now. some breaks in the clouds along some of that sun coming through. it's a cool morning. we're down into the 60s most locations. except parts of the shenandoah valley into the mountains, they're in the 50s as well as on the eastern shore, a few locations there dipped into the 50s. there's the sunrise, the glitter path on the potomac river. by 9:00 mid-70s. by noontime near 80. afternoon ought to hit the 80s partly cloudy. by this evening, we'll have the sunset at 8:33. we'll have the moon up playing

peek-a-boo with the clouds overnight. through the evening, we'll be in the 70s. a gorgeous summer evening coming up. by midnight near 70. starting off saturday morning in the 60s. a look at the weekend in detail and into next week in ten minutes. danella, how's traffic? >> good morning. starting off with our rails, we still have a big delay. brunswick east train number 890. your delay is 23 minutes. looking at our roadway, still have report of an accident, inner loop of the beltway in virginia as you approach the dulles toll road. this accident is going to block your far left lane. you can see that the yellow means that we are congested as we approach this accident. give yourself a little extra time this morning. i want to show you as you loop around to maryland, this is at connecticut avenue. the beltway there is looking good. i have no incidents to report for you. as we shoot down to 395 at duke street. i am seeing volume here. on 395 you're still making good time.

6:12 now. consumers today have a legitimate concern about the chicken they eat. they want to know more about how they were raised, what they were fed. we spend a lot of time on the feed

because a chicken is what it eats. [ jim ] this seal verifies we feed my fresh all-natural chickens an all-vegetarian diet including corn, soybeans, and marigolds. we actually ask the usda to come check us. we have never fed steroids or hormones and never will. no blood meal, no meat and bone meal. yuck. no animal by-products. it means when you put my chicken on the table, you know where it came from.

has to say about the situation. casey anthony wants to. zenaida gonzalez claims anthony ruined her reputation by claiming a woman of the same name kidnapped her daughter caylee. anthony will get out of jail on sunday. meanwhile, casey anthony still has a $1 million from a freelance producer for her first tv interview. the man accused of killing an 8-year-old brooklyn boy must get a psychological evaluation. attorneys for levi aron says their clients hears voices and might be mentally ill. he pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and kidnapping. prosecutors say he lured leibby

kletzky to his home in brooklyn on monday after the little boy got lost while walking home from summer camp. security cameras captured their meeting. detectives say they later found the boy's severed feet wrapped in plastic in aron's freezer. a d.c. police officer has been indicted on charges that he sexually abused three women while on duty. larry say is accused of forcing sex acts on three women in 2006 and 2010 all while in uniform and armed with a gun. say currently is assigned to the department's third district. police say he's been with the department for 18 years. police chief cathy lanier released a statement saying the accusations against him are, quote, appalling. d.c. mayor vincent gray wants to sell guns out of police headquarters. the that the according to the "washington examiner." since april the district hasn't had a licensed gun dealer making it difficult for residents to buy guns legally. the mayor has proposed a zoning change to allow federally licensed dealers to sell guns

inside a d.c. law enforcement building. the only licensed dealer in d.c. charles sykes shut down his shop in april and can't find a new location because of the district's zoning regulations. the d.c. council is on summer vacation. the council begins its summer recess today which will run through the middle of september. this has been a difficult session so far with investigations into mayor gray as well as two council members for inappropriate use of district funds. a tentative agreement to end the nfl lockout could come today. that's according to someone familiar with the negotiations between the owners and the players union. the two sides made significant progress on a major sticking point, rookie salaries, during 15 hours of meetings yesterday. but a number of issues like free agency and new off-season workout rules are still un unresolved. a deal needs to happen soon to keep the preseason schedule intact. the redskins admit they removed thousands of seats at fedex field because they couldn't sell the seat. "the washington post" reports the skins removed 10,000 upper

deck seats after offering them to fans on the season ticket waiting list only to be turned down. when the team removed the seats earlier this year, they announced they were putting in party decks for fans. those plans appear to be on hold. one official says the seats were removed to ease congestion at concession stands and bathrooms. "harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2" opened at midnight last night. theaters are showing the movie round the clock. tracee wilkins is live outside the theater in northwest washington with fans who just stepped out of the theater after seeing the movie. tracee, what are they saying? >> reporter: good morning, joe. they did just leave. actually, what you were just saying about the tickets being sold out, that's the reason they went to the 3:00 a.m. show because the midnight show was sold out. whose fault was that? who was responsible for getting the midnight tickets? okay. phil, i'm sorry. we were talking about how for you this is the end of an era because your dad used to read

these books to you. >> yeah, he did. i was, i think, 1 or 2 years old when the first one came out, and i've been a fan basically since then. >> reporter: what did you all think? what did you guys think of this film? did it disappoint? we were talking about this earlier, christian, because this isn't your favorite. but it didn't disappoint, you said. >> it didn't. the first one happens to be my favorite, but this one didn't disappoint me. i felt that, although it did mess up some of the plot, it did actually do a very good job of displaying the harry potter i know and love. it was pretty delish. >> reporter: great. we don't want to do any movie spoilers, we don't want to ruin this for anybody, but i understand this is the darkest in the series. i can't believe there is anything darker than "the half blood prince" and the last one. they were pretty deep. >> it gets a lot darker. lots of deaths. lots of like tension. i mean, it's just a thriller. i mean, yeah, it's like a fantasy action thing, but it's

also really scary. it's just -- i don't know. it's like everything you want in a movie, you know. >> reporter: any surprises? was there anything in there -- i understand it's different from the book. they added some things. >> it's quite different. it spices it up a little bit. the spicing made it more flavorful, more interesting. the movie was much more interesting. very gruesome scenes, but with those gruesome scenes it was very magical and displayed the true meaning of what a harry potter movie is. >> reporter: you guys grew up with the books, grew up with the movies, and most of you have graduated from high school and on your way to college next year. still came out at 3:00 in the morning to hang out with harry. i guess now he is harold potter now that he has graduated, like you all have graduated. so describe the emotions right now and what it's like. >> i don't know. there were a lot of times that i was close to some tears. it was like -- it was a great time to watch with like my

friends who have all read it together. but i had a great time. it was a great movie. 3:00 in the morning, and i was still wide awake through the entire thing. >> reporter: i've talked to some folks out here who say they've come to see it twice. went to the midnight showing and came back at 3:00 a.m. potter fans, you're going to love this film, the last one in the series, the end of a long journey for a lot of folks. i'm tracee wilkins live this morning in northwest. back to you all in the studio. >> it has been a long journey, tracee. when the first books came out through all of the movies and the end of the books, it really spanned for a lot of kids most of their childhood. >> reporter: and we've watched him grow up onscreen. >> very interesting. thanks very much, tracee. and now tom? >> i don't get it. i'm still trying to -- >> you've read the books? >> i've only seen one movie, haven't read the books. >> i've read part of one of the books, and i can see the appeal of the books. the books are really well written, and they're a lot of fun. you can really get into them. i guess, if you get sucked into

them and read all the books, that is really a world you get into. >> have you seen any of the movies? >> i've seen several of the movies, and i thought the movies were good. >> i'll get on board. >> let's go to tom kierein. he's got the weather for us. tom? you can see the sunrise behind you. a partly cloudy sky in washington. to our west, temperature in the low and mid-60s. near 70 in washington, right by the bay. eastern shore, away from the waters, only in the upper 50s to near 60s. parts of the shenandoah valley and into the mountains of western maryland and west virginia only in the 50s. there's the sunrise over the potomac river. mid-70s. ought to make it to 80 by noon. a partly cloudy day. not much humidity. into the mid-80s. a great evening coming up, in the 70s through the evening and partly cloudy. for the weekend, still not very humid saturday and sunday. both days into the 80s. morning lows 60s. getting hot and humid, monday, tuesday, wednesday, and most of

next week, hot and humid. 90s each day. could get storms tuesday and wednesday of the let's check traffic now. danella, how are we doing? >> good morning. i have a couple of accidents affecting your commute. outer loop of the beltway. this is as you approach the dulles toll road. this accident is causing major delays. you can see in the red. as we get to the red, you are slow approaching the dulles toll road. want to take you down to 295 right now. this accident is as you hit 295 south approaching east capital street, and it's blocking your right lane. be aware of that as you are making your commute this morning. i want to show you some of our area bridges starting out. the american legion bridge is making good time. so far no major delays for you as we shoot over to the key bridge as well. key bridge is a smooth ride for you. and showing you the 14th street bridge. this was a big problem yesterday, but the sinkhole has been repaired, and so far you're looking good. and chopper 4 is live right now over the bay bridge for all of you who are taking the day off, enjoying this wonderful weather

that we're having. you can see if you're making your commute over the bay bridge, it's a smooth ride. back to you, aaron and joe. >> the beach. the beach. it's calling. still ahead this morning, a mother is speaking for the first time about having acid thrown on her daughter and herself. and drug ring busted. how investigators say a group of

security. 6 two airplanes involved in a runway accident in boston. a boeing 767 clipped a smaller jet at logan international last night. both flights did have passengers on board. delta says one person complained of neck pain. federal authorities say an international drug ring that ran right through dulles international airport is no longer in operation. according to court documents, couriers were paid up to $15,000

to smuggle as much as $250,000 worth of heroin from ghana to the u.s. prosecutors say carry-on bags were carefully lined with drugs to

we have 68 degrees here in the nax'sak good morning. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist in for eun yang. it's 6:31. tom kierein with the forecast. beautiful weather under way. low humidity in place.

there's the sky over montgomery county. considerable cloudiness. sun is breaking through. humidity is still low. temperatures there are in the low to mid-60s. fairfax and arlington counties, low and mid-60s as well. low 60s in prince george's county. actually a bit cooler on the eastern shore. just in the upper 50s away from the waters in many locations there as well as out of the mountains of western maryland and west virginia. temperatures today climbing to the mid-80s. by midafternoon partly cloudy. not a lot of humidity around. a look at your friday night planner coming up in ten minutes. here's a look at the friday morning commute. good morning, danella. starting out with the rails, big delay. brunswick east train number 890 now delayed 28 minutes. virginia, inner loop of the beltway at the dulles toll road, this accident blocks your left lane. police 0 not the scene, and it is affecting your commute. 295 southbound as you approach east capital street, crash is in your far right lane. and right now i'm seeing heavy congestion, 395 at duke street. as you head north towards the 14th street bridge, the story gets a little bit better.

aaron, back to you. >> danella, thank you. new overnight a heating and air conditioning unit somehow malfunctioned, and that sparked a fire at holy cross hospital in silver spring. this started on the third floor outside the maternity ward just after 11:00 last night. montgomery county fire says emergency crews that happened to be at the hospital went to check it out and called for backup. hospital staff moved patients to other areas when smoke started pouring into the building. we're told some medical procedures went on without problems, and no patients were in danger. this morning president obama will hold another news conference to update americans on the negotiations to increase the nation's debt limit. there is some hope a deal can be reached. congressional leaders from both parties met for a fifth day yesterday at the white house. both sides emerging with a plan that would give the president more authority to raise the debt ceiling. procedures would also be put in place that could lead to spending cuts. in an exclusive interview,

president obama told news 4's jim vance that he is confident the country will get through this crisis. we've been through tougher times before, and we've always come out on the good end of this thing. what's important is politicians understand now is not the time to play games. now is not the time to posture. now is the time to do what's right by the country. look, i want to live in a country that is going on all cylinders, that's giving everybody opportunity, that is continuing to promote the american dream inform all who are willing to work hard and be responsible. and i want that country for my children and my grandchildren. >> it's not clear when the details of this potential deal will be unveiled. no debt talks are scheduled for today. >> stay with news 4 for continuing coverage of the debt crisis. we will have live coverage of the president's comments later this morning on "news 4 midday" at 11:00 a.m. the debt crisis is an issue

that impacts all americans, but one of the biggest issues on the minds of washingtonians is voting rights. jim vance also asked president obama what he has to say to the 500,000 of us citizens who don't have a vote in congress. >> i'm fully supportive of voting rights for d.c. citizens. i'm fully supportive of home rule. i'm fully supportive of making sure that the washington, d.c. government has its own budget authority. i'm fully supportive of d.c. folks being treated like everyone else in the country, in maryland or virginia. we have not gotten a lot of support from the other side on that issue. but i will continue to stand by those in d.c. who believe they should not be paying taxes like everybody else and serving the military like everybody else and doing everything that's expected of citizens and yet not have the same voting rights as everybody else in america. >> you can see jim vance's

entire interview with president obama on our website, nbcwashington.com. you'll find the link right there on the home page. today you can help the employees of one d.c. institution out of work right now because of a bad fire. capitol hill residents and businesses have organized a fund-raiser to help the staff at the tune inn restaurant and bar make ends meet. the staff has been out of work since a fire ripped through that legendary restaurant and bar last month. the tune inn is now being rebuilt and the fund-raiser will take place at american legion post 8 on "d" street southeast from 3:00 to 10:00 tonight. it will feature live music, raffles, and an auction. there will be food donated by local businesses. police arrested a woman in connection with an acid attack on a mother and child in prince george's county. katrina watts was carrying her daughter out of her car when she was splashed with asity in oxon hill last year. for the first time she describes what happened during that chemical attack. >> she just throws acid on me and my daughter. at that point, my face is

burning. i can't see. immediately my eyes are blurry. i could feel my lips swelling up. >> the attack left watts dig figured. tamira jackson masterminded the attack because watts dated her ex-boyfriend, and she convinced her friend takiya anderson to carry it out. as though traffic in los angeles can't bad enough, the traffic is about to get worse. a main freeway is being shut down for repairs. it's being called carmageddon. for 53 hours a ten-mile stretch of the 405 freeway will be closed for a $1 billion widening project. officials have begged people to stay off that freeway, even recruiting hollywood actors for commercials. and jet blue is taking advantage of the shutdown, offering $4 flights from l.a. to burbank to help avoid the traffic. former secretary of defense donald rumsfeld isn't

complaining about his experience with an airport pat-down. tsa agents pulled him aside for an extra screening at chicago o'hare's airport on wednesday. tsa posted a picture of him going through the security line. he didn't seem to mind, even waved to passing soldiers. he said he was on his way to grand rapids, michigan, to attend the funeral for former first lady betty ford. in a separate tweet, he said, quote, it takes those of us with two titanium hips and a titanium shoulder a little bit longer to get through tsa. 6:38 is the time right now. the "today" show is coming up next at 7:00 of the let's check in with matt lauer to see what they're working on this friday morning. matt, good morning. >> good morning to you, joe. nice to see you. coming up on a friday here on the program, breaking news overnight. two passenger jets damaged when they collided on a taxi way in boston as they prepared for takeoff. fortunately, no one was hurt. we're live with details. also, the chief executive of news international has resigned

this morning amid the growing tabloid news can dal in great britain. remember this photo of a huge 18-foot long salt water crocodile. we showed it to you earlier in the week. we went in search of that beast, and we found him. we'll have that story. and we have a massive crowd out on the plaza for a summer concert from r&b superstar chris brown. some of these people have been standing out there for a day or two. so that's a concert that comes up in our 8:30 half hour. much more ahead on a friday morning right here on "today." joe, back to you. >> looks like a good time there. thanks very much, matt. hope you have a great weekend. >> you too, joe. thanks.

in the fast ecf÷ weather and traffic, good morning on this friday morning. we have low humidity still in place. it's partly to mostly cloudy. we're in low to mid-60s throughout most of the region. 50s farther to our west. we'll have the low humidity in place today. that's a live picture of the

sunrise over the potomac. by noontime near 80. midafternoon ought to hit the mid-80s and partly cloudy and a gorgeous summer day. this evening for your friday night fun, we'll be in the 70s. a beautiful moonlit evening, a few clouds in and out. near 70 by midnight. 60s by this time tomorrow morning. a look at the weekend and into next week at 6:51. danella, how's traffic? we have a lot of congestion in our area. the good news is we're not jammed. as opposed to seeing red, you're seeing a lot of yellow. as you approach the dulles toll road, it's slowing you down. outer loop of the beltway in maryland, you're slow from new hampshire avenue as you approach georgia avenue and 95. you're slow out of woodbridge. as you get to lorton heading north, so far the lanes open up. you see a little bit of relief, if you continue on to 395 you're jammed right here at duke street. really you're just very, very congested. stop and go for you. and this will continue as you make your way to the 14th street bridge. back to you, joe and aron.

>> danella, thank you. >> danella, thank you. coming up, the first lady's that's amazing. you know what else is amazing? how easy it is to save money on motorcycle, boate with geico. geico, saving people money, on more than just car insurance.

nightmare. a tractor trailer nearly blown off the road. are you tired of slow drivers in the fast lane. in montgomery county, they might make going slow in the left lane illegal. a police officer has made a

suggestion that would make it illegal to slow down traffic while driving in the left lane. county officials are not endorsing that proposal, news 4 talked to some drivers who definitely liked the idea. >> as long as everyone's within the speed limit, it's a fine idea. >> it is sort of traditional in europe and other countries, when you're in the passing lane, you pass. >> my dad told me how it's dangerous to pass on the right. so if someone's going slow, then it's not good for everyone else. >> aaa also weighed in on this, saying it's not a smart idea, adding it's also difficult to turn a driving courtesy into a law. a spokesman with the maryland transportation authority says it was nothing but the grace of god that saved a u.p.s. driver this week, and you might just say the same thing when you see this picture posted on fredericksburg.com this morning. take a look at that. that's the u.p.s. tractor trailer about to tip over. the harry nice bridge in dice

county and into the potomac river. it apparently happened during storms on wednesday evening. wind gusts topped nearly 60 miles an hour. according to the website, the driver was slightly hurt but treated at the scene, once they could catch him, i imagine. he was probably running pretty quickly away from there. the truck was not badly damaged. ouch. riding metro this weekend, you may need to plan extra time. no orange line service between east falls church and west falls church as crews continue to work on the new silver line. the stations will remain open, but with buses taking riders between the two stations. you'll also have to add at least a half hour to your trip on the red line with trains single tracking between dupont circle and judiciary square because of repairs. blue and yellow line trains will also be sharing one track between braddock road and van dorn street. in that situation, expect about 20-minute delays. some virginia lawmakers have a chance to cut down on the anticipated gridlock when the new mark center opens in alexandria. senators mark warner and jim

webb and congressman gerry connolly wrote a letter to new secretary of defense leon panetta, asking him to limit parking at mark center to 1,000 spaces. they're trying to discourage dod employees at the new mark center from driving to work. more than 6,000 government workers are expected to be transferred to that facility in september. crews are working to create new bus and shuttle routes to cut down on new traffic. osama bin laden was apparently planning for a 9/11 tenth anniversary attack this coming september. "the wall street journal" reports bin laden was working to assemble a team of militants, according to information obtained during the raid on his compound back in may. officials say the plans were only in the discussion phase, and they have not seen any signs the plot ever went beyond that. some frequent flyers can enjoy life in the fast lane. the tsa is launching a new program that would allow some travelers to bypass some screening procedures. nicole lapin, anchor of cnbc's "worldwide exchange" joins us with more on this story.

>> good morning to you, aaron. i don't know if you can bypass it, but it definitely speeds up the boarding process. the tsa will introduce the new procedure coming up this fall after a barrage of complaints from flyers and lawmakers about pat-downs and body machines. passengers with background info and are vetted can have expedited screening. only a couple people, a few people, we're being told, will be invited to take part in this trial. my invitation has already gotten lost in the mail. do you think you could do a better job than president obama and congress in terms of solving the nation's budget woes and staving off a possible default? i know it's a personal question, but a lot of people are saying yes. there's a new video game that gives you a chance to be a budget hero. budget hero 2.0 is by woodrow wilson center, and it shows players just how hard it is to carry out your master budget plans. if you cut universal health care, extend the bush tax cuts,

and keep everyone in washington happy and the government from going broke. you can play this at budget hero.org. it is perhaps the coolest and nerdiest thing i have seen all day. >> nicole lapin, thank you. >> you're welcome. it is apparently no gifts please, just money for the president's 50th birthday next month. he's holding a concert fund-raiser in his hometown of chicago on august the 3rd. tickets range from $50 all the way up to $35,000 per couple. for a mere $10,000 you can get a souvenir photo with the commander in chief and preferred seating at the soiree. the white house says he may cancel the event if lawmakers don't reach a debt limit deal by the august 2nd deadline. a different birthday celebration involving the first lady. first lady michelle obama was out on "u" street celebrating a friend's birthday. she was at the eatonville restaurant on 14th street last night. once word spread, people cheered as the first lady left the restaurant. this morning we check the

restaurant's twitter page. its last tweet says, "it was a dream come true and an honor to have michelle obama here at eatonville tonight for dinner." >> great macaroni and cheese there. i hope she tried that. tom, let's talk about this forecast. a great weekend ahead of us. i know you're thinking what can we do to show tom our appreciation for this wonderful weather? i don't ask for much. i would just like to be borne aloft down "k" street while being fed grapes by beyonce. i think it's worth it. it is. here's a look at the sky over fairfax county in the distance. quite a lot of cloudiness with us this morning. right now the temperatures there are in the 60s. there's the sky over the potomac river. live picture from our city camera. and right now at reagan national, 69 degrees.

we have temperatures all around the region in the 60s. the humidity still not too bad. not much humidity around. right on the waters, near 70. away from the waters, only in the 60s and 50s. look at that rainbow glow on the eastern horizon, a little halo around the sun. temperatures by noontime near 80. midafternoon ought to hit the mid-80s. tonight a gorgeous summer evening. this friday evening we'll be in the 70s. during the day on saturday, still not very humid. lots of sun, great beach and pool weather. highs into the mid-80s. sunday getting a little more humid. humidity arrives with sweltering humidity monday, tuesday, wednesday, and thursday with highs in the 90s most of the week. could get rain on tuesday and wednesday. danella, how's the commute? we still have an accident causing us a delay. this is the inner loop of the beltway just as you pass the

dulles toll road. your delays start at little river turnpike, and they continue all the way up to where you see this crash. it's in the left lane. be aware of that as you're making your commute. outer loop of the beltway in maryland as you make your way towards georgia avenue. it's looking a little bit better. it was a lot slower just a minute ago. i have a feeling you'll be hot on the brakes as you make your commute this morning. d.c. new york avenue, this is at bladensburg. you are slow from the times plant to right here bladensburg. back to you, aaron. >> thanks, danella. 6:54 right now. right now harry potter mania casting a spell over washington. "harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2" opened at midnight. tracee wilkins is live outside the uptown theater in northwest washington with the reviews. good morning, tracee. >> reporter: good morning, aaron. we've been talking to all the muggles this morning who came to see harry potter overnight. it's amazing to see people say, we went to the midnight showing and loved it so much we went to the 3:00 a.m. showing. it appears the midnight showing

also sold out, so some folks didn't have any other choice but to go to the 3:00 a.m. if they wanted to see it before everyone else. these midnight sales have been breaking records all over the country. accord to go online ticket sellers, the movie already has $32 million in advance sales. midnight showings have been selling out again across the country, and that's why theaters like the uptown have gone ahead and done a 3:00 a.m. show. so far the harry potter series has grossed $637 billion, making it the most successful franchise in history. folks say this movie is like an action war film with some drama in it. they're saying it's also the darkest movie in the harry potter series, and there's some really dramatic parts that are pretty sad and a little bit of comedy. one of the folks we talked to said it had awkward moments of comedy to try to lighten up some of this. but everybody was saying they

loved the film. they were not disappointed. they were very happy with it. for a lot of the folks who were here last night, it's the end of an era. i'm tracee wilkins live in northwest. back to you in the studio. >> tracee, thank you. our time is 6:56 now. news 4's melissa mollet is live in the nuds room. >> things at holy cross hospital are back to normal now after a fire caused evacuations overnight. a heating and air conditioning unit outside the building caught fire around 11:15 last night. some patients had to be moved out while fire crews put the flames out. smoke got inside the third floor, which includes a maternity ward, but no one was hurt. and the august 2nd deadline may be looming, but there's still no debt limit. at 11:00 this morning president obama will hold a press conference regarding negotiations to increase debt limit. you can watch it live on news 4. top executive rebecca brooks has resigned from rupert murdoch's newscorp amid the phone hacking scandal in

britain. the scandal is widening to include accusations of eavesdropping and police bribery. the fbi, of course, is also now involved. aaron and joe? >> thanks very much. let's get a quick out the door forecast from tom. i don't know if we can endure any more of this, but we'll have to slog our way through another day with low humidity and mild afternoon temperatures into the mid-80s. great weather tomorrow and sunday too. hot and humid next week. aaron and joe. >> thanks very much, tom. if you want to find out why tom is the way he is, go to our news 4 today facebook page for